The Messiah in Moses and the Prophets Part 1

The Messiah in Moses and the Prophets.

by Eleazar Lord.

CHAPTER I.

Reasons for examining the Hebrew Records of the Messiah.

It is said of the Messiah, in a discourse with two of his disciples, that "Beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself." And subsequently: "These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understandings, that they might understand the Scriptures." On another occasion he said: "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." And again: "Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?"

At his advent he was, pursuant to a prediction of Isaiah, called Immanu-El, _G.o.d with us_. In conformity with another prediction, it was the office of his fore-runner to prepare the way of Jehovah--_the Lord_.

And an angel announced to the shepherds: "Unto you is born a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord," (_Jehovah_.) "Philip saith to Nathaniel, We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, _Jesus_ of Nazareth."

We should naturally infer from these pa.s.sages that the delegated official Person, Jesus, the Christ, was the theme of the Old Testament Scriptures; that his official agency and relations were there continuously and amply treated of; that his complex character, his divine prerogatives, his prophetical, sacerdotal and regal offices, his works as Creator, Lawgiver, and Ruler, and his relations as Covenanter and Redeemer, were there conspicuously set forth, and were the recognized and acknowledged objects of the faith and trust of patriarchs, prophets, and all true worshippers.

And such undoubtedly was the case. He was the Jehovah of the Old Testament; the Elohe of the patriarchs and of Israel; the Angel or Messenger Jehovah, the Jehovah Zebaoth, the Adonai, the Messiah of the ancient dispensations. Under these and other designations Moses, the psalmists, and the prophets wrote of him; saw, acknowledged, and believed in him; worshipped and praised him in the tabernacle and temple; recognized and obeyed him as their Lawgiver, and trusted in him as their Saviour.

Their faith rested on him as the present object of their homage and trust, a.s.serting his prerogatives, dispensing his benefits, and in all his relations exerting his official agency. They regarded him not merely as he was typified, but as he then manifested himself and executed his offices. In some respects his future manifestations, and especially his sufferings and death for the expiation of sin, were vividly prefigured by typical rites, and were objects of their faith; but in other respects, as their Mediator, Prophet, Lawgiver, Priest, and King, he was the present object of their homage, faith, love, and obedience. The faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and their successors, embraced his person and his official prerogatives and works, and was therefore effectual unto justification, precisely as that of believers under the present dispensation, who are therefore described as walking in the steps of that faith of Abraham which was counted for righteousness. The faith which was instrumental in his justification was the exemplar alike of that of all believers under the ancient, and of those under the present dispensation. To him the patriarchs erected altars and offered sacrifices and prayers, and from him received gifts and promises. To him the ministerial offices and typical services of the Levitical priesthood had immediate reference. In the tabernacle and temple, as Prophet, Priest, and King, he instructed them, prescribed their worship and obedience; and as their present Lawgiver and Ruler, exercised over them his providential and moral government.

All this is implied, indeed, in the facts that the Church of that and the present day is the same; that the method of salvation through faith in him was the same then as now; and that he was the Saviour and Mediator alike them and at present: and otherwise it is not perceived how an intelligible or satisfactory answer can be given to the questions, How did he exercise the office of Mediator under the ancient economy? What agency did he exercise towards his people? How did he exemplify his offices of Prophet, Priest, and King? A reference to the designations by which he was recognized, and the acts ascribed to him in connection with those designations, will supply the appropriate answer. If it was He who appeared in a form like that of man to Abraham, in the plains of Mamre, walked and conversed with him as a man, and heard the prayers addressed directly to him on behalf of the righteous dwelling in Sodom; and who, under various designations, appeared in the same form to Jacob, to Moses, to Balaam, to Joshua, to Gideon, to Manoah, to David, and others; then may we safely conclude that, under the like designations, he was familiarly known and worshipped throughout the patriarchal and Levitical dispensations.

CHAPTER II.

The Messiah announced by Malachi, as Adonai, even Melach, the Messenger of the Covenant--His Appearance to Jacob at Bethel; and to Isaiah, Abraham, Moses, Gideon, and others, under various designations, as Adonai, Melach, a Man, Jehovah Zebaoth, the Holy One, El-Shaddai, &c.

It will be seen that the designations referred to include all those which are applied to the Divine Being: and that in numerous instances they are applied interchangeably in the same pa.s.sages and connections, in such manner as clearly to show that they identify the same Person.

Thus the words El, Elohe, Elohim, translated G.o.d; and Jah, Jehovah, Adon, and Adonai, translated Lord, are, separately, and also in conjunction with Melach, _Angel or Messenger_, and with other names of office, employed to designate and identify that delegated Person who is "both Lord (_Jehovah_) and Christ."

In demonstration of this, we may first refer to some pa.s.sages in which the appellative _Melach_, the primary signification of which is _Messenger_, occurs, as a designation of him who was sent of the Father; as Malachi iii. 1: "Behold, I send my messenger, [John the Baptist,] and he shall prepare the way before _me_; and _the_ Adon whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even Melach, the _Messenger_, of the Covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith Jehovah Zebaoth." And Isaiah xl. 3, 5: "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of _Jehovah_, make straight in the desert a highway for our _Elohe_.... And the glory of _Jehovah_ shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it."

These prophecies are quoted by the Evangelists as identifying Jesus the Christ. See Matthew iii. 1-6; xi. 10; Mark i. 2-4; Luke iii. 3-6; John i. 6-8. They point to John as he who was spoken of by these prophets, and as proclaiming in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah. He whose way was prepared was therefore the _Messenger_ of the Covenant, _the Adon_, _the Elohim_, and the _Jehovah_--the delegated official Person to whom these several designations are applied in the predictions. That official Person was the Revealer, as well as the subject of the ancient revelations; and, as will hereafter be more particularly noticed, manifested himself in different aspects and relations of his official work, and in those diverse relations often spoke predictively (as at the close of each of the above pa.s.sages) and otherwise, to and of himself.

The same conclusions result from a pa.s.sage in the narrative of Jacob's journey from Padan-aram to Shechem, Gen. x.x.xii., taken in connection with the reference to it by the prophet Hosea: "And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled _a man_ with him until the breaking of the day.... And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with Elohim and with men, and hast prevailed.... And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen Elohim face to face." Hosea, referring to Jacob, chap. xii., says: "He had power with Elohim; yea, he had power over the angel, [_Melach, the Messenger_,] and prevailed; he wept and made supplication _unto him_: he _found him_ in Beth-El, and there he spake with us; even Jehovah Elohe Zebaoth--Jehovah is his memorial."

Here the G.o.d-man, the only Divine Person who, under the ancient or present dispensation, has ever manifested himself visibly in the likeness of man, is seen face to face by Jacob, and is denominated Elohim, the Messenger, the Jehovah Elohe Zebaoth, whose peculiar designation is Jehovah. Accordingly, Hosea says of Melach, _the Messenger_, that Jacob made supplication _unto him_: he found _him_ in Beth-El, indicating that it was in the place which he named Beth-El that he first recognized the official acting administrator of providence and grace, the G.o.d-man, in the relations in which he then appeared to him.

The pa.s.sage specially referred to by the prophet in relation to Beth-El is in Gen. xxviii., where Jacob's flight to Padan-aram, to avoid the wrath of Esau, is narrated. On his way he slept in the open field, and beheld in a dream a ladder extending from earth to heaven. "And behold!

Jehovah stood above it, and said, I am Jehovah Elohe of Abraham, and Elohe of Isaac, &c. And Jacob awoke and said, Surely Jehovah is in this place: ... this is the house of Elohim." The _Messenger_ therefore to whom Jacob made supplication, and whom he first saw at Beth-El, was Jehovah the Elohe of Abraham and Isaac, even Jehovah Elohe Zebaoth.

To show by another instance that He who in the ancient oracles is called Adon, Adonai, and Jehovah Zebaoth, is in the New Testament referred to as the Christ, Isaiah vi. may be cited. I saw, says the prophet, "the Adonai sitting upon a throne." "Then said I, Woe is me!... for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah Zebaoth." The apostle John, chap. xii., ascribes what was announced at this scene to Christ, and adds: "These things said Esaias when he saw his glory and spake of him."

With respect to the point now particularly in view, the Scriptures quoted above render it certain that the Divine Person who by Malachi is called the Messenger of the Covenant, and the Adonai, and by Hosea, the Messenger, Elohim, and Jehovah, is identical with Jesus the Christ.

"Sometimes the same Divine appearance which at one time is called Melach Jehovah, is afterwards called simply Jehovah, as in Gen. xvi. 7; Col. v.

13; Exod. iii. 2; Col. iv., &c., &c. This is to be so understood that the _Angel of G.o.d_ is here nothing else than the invisible Deity itself, which thus unveils itself to mortal eyes." And after referring to Michaelis and Tholuck, "Hence Oriental translators, as Saadias, Abusaides, and the Chaldeo-Samaritan, wherever Jehovah himself is said to appear on earth, always put for the name of G.o.d, the _Angel of G.o.d_."

Gesenius, Lex., Art. _Melach_.

Ill.u.s.trations might be adduced from the New Testament to show that the apostles understood the Messiah and the Messenger Jehovah to be the same Person. Thus, Galatians iv. 14: "Ye received me as an angel of G.o.d, even as Christ Jesus;" where the rendering, in our own and other versions, "_an_ angel," corresponds with the erroneous usage so common in the Old Testament. The meaning is: Ye received me with respect and confidence, as ye would have received the Melach, the Messenger Jehovah, even Jesus the Messiah. For undoubtedly, had a created _angel_ been referred to, a comparison would not have been made placing the Messiah on a level with him. The instances in the New Testament in which the Angel Jehovah is referred to, though unhappily not discriminated in our translation, are from the context easily distinguishable. See Acts vii. 30, 35, 38.

The word _Adonai_ occurs as a Divine designation several hundred times in the Old Testament, chiefly in the form indicated above, but sometimes simply _Adon_. It is often employed in connections which clearly show it to be a personal designation of the Messiah, and which a.s.sert or imply his official prerogatives, agency, or relations. It is employed interchangeably with _Jehovah_, _Elohim_, and other Divine designations, sometimes preceding and at others following them; sometimes with, but more commonly without the article.

In the second of the above forms, this word is commonly, like the secular English t.i.tle _lord_, applied to men in the relation of masters or rulers, as _Melach_ is applied to men to distinguish them officially as messengers. And as our own, in common with other translators, failed to mark the distinction between the use of the word Melach, as a designation of the Messiah, and the use of it with reference to created agents, human or angelic, so they seem to have regarded the words Adonai and Adon as importing something inferior to the Divine designations of _Jehovah_ and _Elohim_; which difference they indicate by uniformly writing their translation of the former words in small letters, and their translation of the latter in capitals.

Whatever impression or inference may result from this usage to the English reader, or to the Israelite who reads the original under the same views which influenced the translation, it is by no means probable that either of them would infer, or be struck with the impression, that _Adonai_ was a distinctive and familiar t.i.tle of the delegated One, the Messiah, of correlative and equivalent significance as a Divine designation with those with which it is indifferently and interchangeably employed. For the further ill.u.s.tration of this point, therefore, the following pa.s.sages are cited:

In Gen. xviii., we read that Jehovah appeared visibly to Abraham in the likeness of man, _i. e._, in the delegated official Person, Messiah. In what is related in the narrative as having been said or done by him, while visibly present, he is called Jehovah, while Abraham, in speaking to him, uniformly calls him Adonai, prays to him as having power to save the righteous in Sodom, and addresses him as Judge of all the earth. It is therefore manifest that the two designations, Jehovah and Adonai, identify the same Person; that Abraham speaks to him as visibly present; and that his visible presence in the likeness of man determines him to have been the delegated One. At the close of their interview, "Jehovah went his way, and Abraham returned to his place."

When the personal WORD came to Abram, Gen. xv., saying, Fear not, I am thy shield, &c., Abram, replying, verse 2, calls him Adonai Jehovah, and also in verse 8; while in verses 4, 6, 7, and 18, he calls him Jehovah.

Instances like that in chap. xviii., and others, would seem to indicate that in cases of local visible manifestation of the personal Word, designations specially appropriate to his official character and agency were suggested to the minds of the beholders. Thus Moses, Exod, iv. 10, "said unto Jehovah, O Adonai." The Person whom he addressed was the Messenger Jehovah, who had appeared to him. Again, verse 13, he says: "O Adonai." In other parts of that chapter, the same Person is called Jehovah, Elohim, and Elohe. In Moses' song, chap. xv. 17, Jehovah (that is, the Messenger) and the Adonai are addressed as the same Person: "Thou shalt bring them in and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance; in the place, O Jehovah, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in; in the sanctuary, O Adonai, which thy hands have established." So, chap. x.x.xiv., when Jehovah (the Messenger) descended and manifested the glory of his Person to Moses, and proclaimed himself Jehovah as he pa.s.sed by, Moses bowed and worshipped; and he said: "If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Adonai, let Adonai, I pray thee, go among us." In like manner, Deut. iii. 23, 24, Moses, praying to Jehovah, addresses the Adonai: "And I besought Jehovah at that time, saying, O Adonai Jehovah.... I pray thee let me go over and see the good land." Also, chap. ix. 26: "I prayed therefore unto Jehovah, and said, O Adonai Jehovah, destroy not thy people, and thine inheritance which thou hast redeemed." Once more, when, after the trespa.s.s of Achan, the Israelites were smitten, Joshua fell upon his face before the ark of Jehovah, and said: "Alas! O Adonai Jehovah....

O Adonai, what shall I say," &c. Similar instances occur in the prayers of Gideon, Manoah, David, and the prophets; and throughout their writings, as in the instances quoted, doubtless this term designates the Messenger of the Covenant, the Holy One, the Christ, and whether sometimes subst.i.tuted by copyists for the word Jehovah or not, its import is the same, as appears from the connections in which it occurs.

At the interview of the same Divine Person with Gideon, Judges vi., he is called Melach Jehovah, Jehovah, Adonai, Melach _the_ Elohim, and Adonai Jehovah Melach Jehovah came and sat under an oak--appeared visibly--and said unto Gideon, Jehovah is with thee. Gideon replied, O Adonai, if Jehovah be with us, &c. Jehovah looked upon him and said, Go in this thy might. Gideon answered, O Adonai, wherewith shall I save Israel? Jehovah said, Surely I will be with thee. Gideon prepared a sacrifice. Melach _the_ Elohim said, Take the flesh, &c. Melach Jehovah touched the flesh with his staff. Fire rose out of the rock and consumed the flesh. Melach Jehovah departed out of Gideon's sight. Gideon exclaimed, Alas, O Adonai Jehovah! for I have seen Melach Jehovah face to face. Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee.

The purport of the expressions in this narrative may be more fully represented as follows: The Melach, (the Messenger,) who is Jehovah, came in the form of a wayfaring man, and sat down under an oak in a field where Gideon was, and said unto him, Jehovah is with thee. And Gideon said to him, (Jehovah,) O Adonai, &c. Jehovah looked upon him and said, Go in this thy might, &c. Gideon said to him, O Adonai, wherewith shall I save Israel? Jehovah said to him, Surely I will be with thee.

Gideon presented a sacrifice to him. The Melach, (or Messenger,) who is the true Elohim, said to Gideon, Take the flesh, &c., and lay them upon this rock, and he did so. The the Melach, (or Messenger,) who is Jehovah, put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh, &c.; and there rose up fire out of the rock and consumed the flesh, &c. Gideon said, Alas, O Adonai Jehovah! for I have seen the Melach, who is Jehovah, face to face. To which Jehovah replied, Peace be unto thee; fear not, &c. Then Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah.

So in the narrative of the visible appearance of the same Divine Person to Manoah and his wife, Judges xiii., where, as in the foregoing and other parallel instances, the term Melach distinguishes the Divine Person referred to as present and seen. The Melach (who is) Jehovah appeared unto the woman, &c. The woman came and told her husband, saying, A _man_, _the_ Elohim, came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of the Melach (who is) _the_ Elohim, &c. Then Manoah entreated Jehovah, and said, O Adon, let the man, _the_ Elohim which thou didst send, come again unto us.... And _the_ Elohim hearkened to the voice of Manoah, and the Melach, _the_ (or who is _the_) Elohim, came again unto the woman as she sat in the field.... And she ran and said to her husband, Behold _the man_ hath appeared unto me that came unto me the other day.... And Manoah came and said unto him, Art thou _the man_ that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.... And the Melach (who is) Jehovah said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. And Manoah said to the Melach (who is) Jehovah, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. And the Melach (who is) Jehovah said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto Jehovah. For Manoah knew not that he was the Melach (who is) Jehovah.... So Manoah took a kid, with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto Jehovah. And ... it came to pa.s.s, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the Melach (who is) Jehovah ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on, and fell on their faces to the ground, &c. Then Manoah knew that he was the Melach (who is) Jehovah. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen Elohim. But his wife said unto him, If Jehovah were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering at our hands, &c. Nothing surely can be more evident than that all these designations refer to the one delegated official Person--Messiah, the Messenger of the Covenant, visible in the form of man.

Behold, _the_ Adon, Jehovah Zebaoth, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, &c. Isa. iii. 1.

Therefore shall _the_ Adon, Adonai Zebaoth, send, &c. Isa. x. 16.

Behold, _the_ Adon, Jehovah Zebaoth, shall lop the bough, &c. Isa. x.

33.

Thou (Abiathar) bearest the ark of Adonai Jehovah. 1 Kings ii. 26.

Thou art my Elohe and my Adonai. Ps. x.x.xv. 23.

To Jehovah Adonai belong the issues from death. Ps. lxviii. 20.

Let not them that wait on thee, O Adonai, Jehovah Zebaoth, be ashamed.

Ps. lxix. 6.

Thou art my hope, O Adonai Jehovah. Ps. lxxi. 5.

But do thou for me, O Jehovah Adonai, for thy name's sake. Ps. cix. 21.

O Jehovah Adonai, the strength of my salvation. Ps. cxl. 7.

Mine eyes are unto thee, O Jehovah Adonai. Ps. cxli. 8.

The phrases "Thus saith Adonai Jehovah Zebaoth," "Adonai Jehovah," and "Adonai Zebaoth," occur in very numerous instances in the prophets.

Probably in all such formulas the sense would be more perfectly expressed by interposing the words who is, or who art: as, _The_ Adon who is Jehovah of hosts; _The_ Adon who is the Adonai of hosts; The ark of Adonai, who is Jehovah. It is evidently by way of explanation, ill.u.s.tration, and emphasis, that two or more designations are so conjoined.

Some critics, probably from regarding the terms _Adonai_ and _Adon_ as of inferior significance to _Jehovah_ and _Elohim_, when employed as Divine designations, imagine that the Jewish copyists subst.i.tuted the former in place of the latter, or in place of _Jehovah_, to avoid the enunciation of that sacred name. No supposition could well be more improbable than this, whether considered in relation to the subject-matter, or to the reason a.s.signed for it. In relation to the subject, it would imply a general consent among copyists, Jewish readers, priests and rabbies, and Gentile proselytes, as to the instances in which such a surrept.i.tious change should be made, received, and sanctioned. And as to the alleged reason, if it was a real and sufficient reason in a single instance, or in many instances, why not in all? Why suppress the fearful name, and subst.i.tute a term of inferior or doubtful import in some cases, and allow it to retain its place in a far greater number of cases? But the groundlessness of the supposition referred to is sufficiently shown by the fact that, in the pa.s.sages above cited, and in many others, the several designations, Adonai, Adon, Jehovah, and Elohim, are employed conjointly in the same sentences, with reference to the same Person, and as of equivalent import as Divine designations.